One of the most frustrating aspects of traveling through airports is dealing with baggage claims. To avoid this hassle, many of us try to travel with only carry-ons, even if they sometimes seem questionably large, right? Anybody like me, and wonder, "How did they get that through the gate?" But I understand the motivation—traveling light saves time and reduces stress.
However, for longer trips, packing everything into a carry-on isn’t practical. Similarly, in the journey of life, we carry various types of baggage—mental, emotional, and spiritual. Along the way, we accumulate more items to add to our bags.
So, what do we have in our bags?
What have we accumulated for the trip? There is a chance we need to take our mental, emotional, and spiritual baggage as serious as we take the physical. We should determine the necessary things, the unnecessary things, and the things that need to be replaced.
I won't attempt to unpack all the mental, emotional, and spiritual items we carry in a post. Instead, I want to remind us of the importance of claiming our bags.
James 5:16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." On the other hand, Philippians 2:10-11 states, "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." These scriptures emphasize the power of confession—whether confessing our faults or proclaiming the promises. Either way, we are proclaiming what we know to be true.
Confession is powerful.
When we examine our hearts, minds, and souls, we must ask ourselves: What can we confess? What can we profess? What can we claim? We need to acknowledge the good, the bad, and the ugly within us. There are positive affirmations we should declare (good), faults we should admit (bad), and painful and uncontrollable aspects we must confess (ugly).
In essence, we need to stop avoiding baggage claims. Confess to God, confess to others in Christ, and find a solid therapist to confess to. By doing so, we can lighten our load and travel through life more freely and responsibly.
I leave you with the words of Pastor Timothy:
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”- I Timothy 6:12
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Chris
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